PM welcomes controversial race report amid campaigners' anger

It comes as No.10's most senior Black adviser resigned earlier today, which Downing Street said is unrelated to the report's findings.

Samuel Kasumu, special adviser for civil society and communities, will remain in his job until May but is said to have planned his departure for several months.

Samuel Kasumu/Facebook

Yesterday Mr Johnson thanked the aide for his work, and said: "I worked very closely with Samuel in the last year or so and he’s done some great stuff.

“I thank him very much, particularly on helping to encourage vaccine take-up amongst more hesitant groups and communities."

A No 10 spokesperson said Mr Kasumu had played an “incredibly valuable role” during his time as a special adviser, adding: " He will be leaving government in May – this has been his plan for several months and has not changed.

“Any suggestion that this decision has been made this week or that this is linked to the report is completely inaccurate."

Asked about the backlash to the report, Mr Johnson said: “Look, this is a very interesting piece of work. I don’t say the Government is going to agree with absolutely everything in it, but it has some original and stimulating work in it that I think people need to read and to consider.

“There are very serious issues that our society faces to do with racism that we need to address.

“We’ve got to do more to fix it, we need to understand the severity of the problem, and we’re going to be looking at all the ideas that they have put forward, and we’ll be making our response.”

READ MORE: Scots' anger after racism report finds no evidence of widespread bias

Some equality and race campaigners have suggested the race report was "rigged" by the UK Government by selecting commissioners who had previously dismissed the idea of institutional racism.

The report found no evidence of such bias in its report, and suggested banning the term BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) as well as amending the curriculum to allow "all children to reclaim their British heritage”.

Critics suggested that the commission chairman, education consultant Dr Tony Sewell, trying to put a "positive spin on slavery".

Mr Johnson said: "If you look at it, they have come forward with about 24 interesting ideas to promote equality and to promote equality of opportunity, to give people of all communities, all races, all backgrounds in this country, more opportunity.

“But also to understand the true nature of the barriers and the discrimination that they unquestionably feel.

“There are some interesting things in it, I’m not going to say we agree with every word, but we’re going to be responding in due course."

Dr Tony Sewell

Dr Sewell said that to suggest the report was “trying to downplay the evil of the slave trade” is “absurd”.

He said: "It is both ridiculous and offensive to each and every commissioner

“The report merely says that, in the face of the inhumanity of slavery, African people preserved their humanity and culture.”

The race report suggests a new Making Of Modern Britain teaching resource to “tell the multiple, nuanced stories of the contributions made by different groups that have made this country the one it is today”.

Dr Sewell said the recommendation is the body’s response to “negative calls for ‘decolonising’ the curriculum”.

He wrote that the resource should look at the influence of the UK during its Empire period and how “Britishness influenced the Commonwealth”, and how local communities influenced “modern Britain”.

He added: “There is a new story about the Caribbean experience which speaks to the slave period not only being about profit and suffering, but how culturally African people transformed themselves into a remodelled African/Britain.”

Marsha De Cordova

Labour's shadow women and equalities secretary Marsha de Cordova said: “To have your most senior adviser on ethnic minorities quit as you publish a so-called landmark report on race in the UK is telling of how far removed the Tories are from the everyday lived experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minority people.

“Their divisive report appears to glorify slavery and suggests that institutional racism does not exist, despite the evidence to the contrary. It is no wonder they are losing the expertise from their team.”

Highlighting the passage about curriculum reforms on social media, Ms de Cordova said it was “one of the worst bits” of the report which was “putting a positive spin on slavery and empire”.

The SNP's candidate for Glasgow Kelvin Kaukab Stewart said Mr Johnson's response was "staggering".

Kaukab Stewart, SNP candidate for Glasgow Kelvin

She said: " Despite the widespread criticism and concern following the publication of Downing Street's race review, it is staggering that Boris Johnson has instead described its conclusions as 'stimulating' and 'interesting'.

"This is the very same report that attempts to put a positive cultural spin on the abhorrent slave trade as a 'Caribbean experience' as though it was a cruise trip.

"Rather than listening to concerns and working with communities, Boris Johnson is shamefully doubling down.

"It's clear that the Prime Minister has utterly failed to grasp the issue and very real challenges facing ethnic minority communities.

"We all need to have an open and honest conversation on race and the systematic and structural issues that perpetuate inequality. Only by acknowledging and understanding institutional racism will we be able to effectively tackle it in all aspects of life."